Malignant teratoma of the ovary: prognostic factors and treatment.

A series of 25 patients with malignant teratoma of the ovary is presented. In 56%, diagnosis was made before the age of 20; none had bilateral tumors, and 52% were in Stage I at the time of the original diagnosis. Treatment with operation followed by irradiation or single-agent chemotherapy was ineffective; there were no survivors in eight patients treated with either of these regimens. However, combination chemotherapy with vincristine, actinomycin D, and cyclophosphamide used postoperatively appears to be more effective since 10 to 12 patients who were treated with this method are surviving. Histologic grade appears to have questionable prognostic significance.